Alexandra Irimia
@alexandrairim.bsky.social
Literary-minded researcher & border-crosser.
Issue #6 of Bureaucritics is out now!
Catch up with the latest in art, fiction, and scholarship about bureaucracy.
bureaucritics.substack.com/p/cultural-b...
#newsletter #bureaucracy #administration #officeliterature #bureaucraticfiction #parliaments
Catch up with the latest in art, fiction, and scholarship about bureaucracy.
bureaucritics.substack.com/p/cultural-b...
#newsletter #bureaucracy #administration #officeliterature #bureaucraticfiction #parliaments
bureaucritics.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Issue #6 of Bureaucritics is out now!
Catch up with the latest in art, fiction, and scholarship about bureaucracy.
bureaucritics.substack.com/p/cultural-b...
#newsletter #bureaucracy #administration #officeliterature #bureaucraticfiction #parliaments
Catch up with the latest in art, fiction, and scholarship about bureaucracy.
bureaucritics.substack.com/p/cultural-b...
#newsletter #bureaucracy #administration #officeliterature #bureaucraticfiction #parliaments
so thrilled about this!
www.romania-insider.com/romania-gues...
www.romania-insider.com/romania-gues...
Romania to be guest of honor at Frankfurt Book Fair 2028
Romania will be the guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2028 and will manage a pavilion of approximately 1,500–2,000 sqm, according to a memorandum approved by the Romanian government on Thur...
www.romania-insider.com
January 27, 2026 at 10:18 PM
so thrilled about this!
www.romania-insider.com/romania-gues...
www.romania-insider.com/romania-gues...
Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write: Die Zeit published a long-form piece featuring my research.
Many thanks to Katharina Meyer zu Eppendorf and to everyone who, directly and indirectly, made this possible.
www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Many thanks to Katharina Meyer zu Eppendorf and to everyone who, directly and indirectly, made this possible.
www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Bürokratie: In die Bürokratie hineingerutscht wie andere in ihre Midlife-Crisis
Andere kaufen sich ein Rennrad, Alexandra Irimia erforscht die Bürokratie. Mal sieht sie darin eine verwunschene Schönheit, mal tödliche Gefahr.
www.zeit.de
January 23, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write: Die Zeit published a long-form piece featuring my research.
Many thanks to Katharina Meyer zu Eppendorf and to everyone who, directly and indirectly, made this possible.
www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Many thanks to Katharina Meyer zu Eppendorf and to everyone who, directly and indirectly, made this possible.
www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Reposted by Alexandra Irimia
🗞️ Lesenswertes @zeitonline.bsky.social-Porträt der Literaturwissenschaftlerin @alexandrairim.bsky.social (ehem. KWI Int Fellow), die äußerst erfolgreich Bürokratie beforscht.
Artikel (Paywall): www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Artikel (Paywall): www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Bürokratie: In die Bürokratie hineingerutscht wie andere in ihre Midlife-Crisis
Andere kaufen sich ein Rennrad, Alexandra Irimia erforscht die Bürokratie. Mal sieht sie darin eine verwunschene Schönheit, mal tödliche Gefahr.
www.zeit.de
January 23, 2026 at 11:59 AM
🗞️ Lesenswertes @zeitonline.bsky.social-Porträt der Literaturwissenschaftlerin @alexandrairim.bsky.social (ehem. KWI Int Fellow), die äußerst erfolgreich Bürokratie beforscht.
Artikel (Paywall): www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Artikel (Paywall): www.zeit.de/campus/2026-...
Reposted by Alexandra Irimia
13 is your lucky number? Become part of KWI’s 13th International Fellowship cohort and apply by 28 Feb 2026! We invite #Postdoc scholars in the #humanities, #socialsciences, or #culturalstudies to join us at KWI from 1 Oct 26 until 31 Mar 27.
📢 Call: www.kulturwissenschaften.de/wp-content/u...
📢 Call: www.kulturwissenschaften.de/wp-content/u...
December 3, 2025 at 12:26 PM
13 is your lucky number? Become part of KWI’s 13th International Fellowship cohort and apply by 28 Feb 2026! We invite #Postdoc scholars in the #humanities, #socialsciences, or #culturalstudies to join us at KWI from 1 Oct 26 until 31 Mar 27.
📢 Call: www.kulturwissenschaften.de/wp-content/u...
📢 Call: www.kulturwissenschaften.de/wp-content/u...
on the visual representations of parliamentarism in Europe (in French & German)
kgparl.de/tagung-visue...
kgparl.de/tagung-visue...
Tagung »Visuelle Repräsentationen des Parlamentarismus seit 1789. Ein europäisches Panorama« | kgparl
Ohne Bilder kann der moderne Parlamentarismus nicht existieren. Als repräsentative Herrschaftsform, die auf tendenziell freien Wahlen und dem freien Mandat beruht, ist er auf schriftliche…
kgparl.de
November 15, 2025 at 11:17 AM
on the visual representations of parliamentarism in Europe (in French & German)
kgparl.de/tagung-visue...
kgparl.de/tagung-visue...
I answered some questions about my #research for @unibonn.bsky.social, so now this short #interview exists:
www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/in-t...
(German version below)
Thanks, as always, to the @humboldt-foundation.de for the support!
#postdoc #complit #bureaucraticfiction #sciencecommunication
www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/in-t...
(German version below)
Thanks, as always, to the @humboldt-foundation.de for the support!
#postdoc #complit #bureaucraticfiction #sciencecommunication
In the Maze of Forms: The Curious Allure of Bureaucracy
www.uni-bonn.de
November 10, 2025 at 9:36 AM
I answered some questions about my #research for @unibonn.bsky.social, so now this short #interview exists:
www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/in-t...
(German version below)
Thanks, as always, to the @humboldt-foundation.de for the support!
#postdoc #complit #bureaucraticfiction #sciencecommunication
www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/in-t...
(German version below)
Thanks, as always, to the @humboldt-foundation.de for the support!
#postdoc #complit #bureaucraticfiction #sciencecommunication
soon in Heidelberg, on the last talk for the project this conference season! 🍂
October 29, 2025 at 1:55 PM
soon in Heidelberg, on the last talk for the project this conference season! 🍂
Reposted by Alexandra Irimia
#Conference
ARCHITECTURE AND BUREAUCRACY
As part of the FWF project ‘Invisible Agents’, the conference is convened by the IHB and the Institute of Art History at CAS and will take place on 6 and 7 November 2025 at the PSK-Building, 1010 Vienna.
See more ⬇️
www.oeaw.ac.at/ihb/detail/e...
ARCHITECTURE AND BUREAUCRACY
As part of the FWF project ‘Invisible Agents’, the conference is convened by the IHB and the Institute of Art History at CAS and will take place on 6 and 7 November 2025 at the PSK-Building, 1010 Vienna.
See more ⬇️
www.oeaw.ac.at/ihb/detail/e...
October 20, 2025 at 1:07 PM
#Conference
ARCHITECTURE AND BUREAUCRACY
As part of the FWF project ‘Invisible Agents’, the conference is convened by the IHB and the Institute of Art History at CAS and will take place on 6 and 7 November 2025 at the PSK-Building, 1010 Vienna.
See more ⬇️
www.oeaw.ac.at/ihb/detail/e...
ARCHITECTURE AND BUREAUCRACY
As part of the FWF project ‘Invisible Agents’, the conference is convened by the IHB and the Institute of Art History at CAS and will take place on 6 and 7 November 2025 at the PSK-Building, 1010 Vienna.
See more ⬇️
www.oeaw.ac.at/ihb/detail/e...
Reposted by Alexandra Irimia
#KWIonTour: @schalkewins.bsky.social & @awierzock.bsky.social are giving presentations at the workshop “Temporary Intensities. Ephemeral Media, Practices, and Archives” @unituebingen.bsky.social. Also participating: our ex-fellows @alexandrairim.bsky.social & Ádám Havas. ✨
🔗 tinyurl.com/4kavv67d
🔗 tinyurl.com/4kavv67d
Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen (KWI)
Das Kulturwissenschaftliche Institut Essen (KWI) ist ein interdisziplinäres Forschungskolleg für Geistes- und Kulturwissenschaften in der Tradition internationaler Institutes for Advanced Study. Als i...
tinyurl.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:31 AM
#KWIonTour: @schalkewins.bsky.social & @awierzock.bsky.social are giving presentations at the workshop “Temporary Intensities. Ephemeral Media, Practices, and Archives” @unituebingen.bsky.social. Also participating: our ex-fellows @alexandrairim.bsky.social & Ádám Havas. ✨
🔗 tinyurl.com/4kavv67d
🔗 tinyurl.com/4kavv67d
next week in Tübingen, looking at ephemeral media, practices, and archives with @schalkewins.bsky.social, @awierzock.bsky.social, @takapp.bsky.social & her emerging research network on ephemeral epistemologies and encounters
www.ephemeralnetwork.com
www.ephemeralnetwork.com
2025 Workshop | Ephemeral Encounters
www.ephemeralnetwork.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:11 PM
next week in Tübingen, looking at ephemeral media, practices, and archives with @schalkewins.bsky.social, @awierzock.bsky.social, @takapp.bsky.social & her emerging research network on ephemeral epistemologies and encounters
www.ephemeralnetwork.com
www.ephemeralnetwork.com
the fun begins tomorrow
— grateful to everyone involved, I couldn't have made it happen without you!
— grateful to everyone involved, I couldn't have made it happen without you!
October 15, 2025 at 8:21 AM
the fun begins tomorrow
— grateful to everyone involved, I couldn't have made it happen without you!
— grateful to everyone involved, I couldn't have made it happen without you!
I guess now's as good a time as there will ever be to unearth an article I wrote about Krazsnahorkai's and Tarr's Sátántangó before it was cool.
Then again, it's always been cool.
#Nobel #Krasznahorkai #Satantango
www.ekphrasisjournal.ro/docs/R1/20E1...
Then again, it's always been cool.
#Nobel #Krasznahorkai #Satantango
www.ekphrasisjournal.ro/docs/R1/20E1...
www.ekphrasisjournal.ro
October 9, 2025 at 12:04 PM
I guess now's as good a time as there will ever be to unearth an article I wrote about Krazsnahorkai's and Tarr's Sátántangó before it was cool.
Then again, it's always been cool.
#Nobel #Krasznahorkai #Satantango
www.ekphrasisjournal.ro/docs/R1/20E1...
Then again, it's always been cool.
#Nobel #Krasznahorkai #Satantango
www.ekphrasisjournal.ro/docs/R1/20E1...
Jonathan and I wrote about the fantasy of total efficiency, algorithmic governance, and the bureaucratic horror story as a recurring fictional trope — thank you, KWI Blog team, for hosting the piece!
The #KWIBlog is back! The 1st post of the new semester by @alexandrairim.bsky.social & Jonathan Foster contextualises recent developments in US public administration, examining the rise of AI governance in light of literary & visual depictions of administrative technology.
🏢 tinyurl.com/2zdzpjme
🏢 tinyurl.com/2zdzpjme
October 6, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Jonathan and I wrote about the fantasy of total efficiency, algorithmic governance, and the bureaucratic horror story as a recurring fictional trope — thank you, KWI Blog team, for hosting the piece!
next week at the University of Cologne we're looking at how literature engages with Niklas Luhmann's concept of organizational "boundary roles"
October 5, 2025 at 3:37 PM
next week at the University of Cologne we're looking at how literature engages with Niklas Luhmann's concept of organizational "boundary roles"
Bureaucritics #5 is now online!
It brings along a busy stretch of new publications, from the just-printed to the just-planned, plus fresh calls for papers and events.
It brings along a busy stretch of new publications, from the just-printed to the just-planned, plus fresh calls for papers and events.
Back in Office
We’re back!
bureaucritics.substack.com
September 23, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Bureaucritics #5 is now online!
It brings along a busy stretch of new publications, from the just-printed to the just-planned, plus fresh calls for papers and events.
It brings along a busy stretch of new publications, from the just-printed to the just-planned, plus fresh calls for papers and events.
The international #symposium Files, Forms, Fictions is turning into a real thing!
Browse through the full program and learn more about the event at filesformsfictions.com.
Thank you, @humboldt-foundation.de & @unibonn.bsky.social, for all your support!
#bureaucraticfiction #comparativeliterature
Browse through the full program and learn more about the event at filesformsfictions.com.
Thank you, @humboldt-foundation.de & @unibonn.bsky.social, for all your support!
#bureaucraticfiction #comparativeliterature
September 16, 2025 at 2:49 PM
The international #symposium Files, Forms, Fictions is turning into a real thing!
Browse through the full program and learn more about the event at filesformsfictions.com.
Thank you, @humboldt-foundation.de & @unibonn.bsky.social, for all your support!
#bureaucraticfiction #comparativeliterature
Browse through the full program and learn more about the event at filesformsfictions.com.
Thank you, @humboldt-foundation.de & @unibonn.bsky.social, for all your support!
#bureaucraticfiction #comparativeliterature
Reposted by Alexandra Irimia
"Jenkin-Smith brings to his readers’ attention authors and periodicals that literary histories have meanwhile discarded or longtime ignored."
Alexandra Irimia on Daniel Jenkin-Smith's The Rise of Office Literature, from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
Alexandra Irimia on Daniel Jenkin-Smith's The Rise of Office Literature, from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
August 29, 2025 at 7:53 PM
"Jenkin-Smith brings to his readers’ attention authors and periodicals that literary histories have meanwhile discarded or longtime ignored."
Alexandra Irimia on Daniel Jenkin-Smith's The Rise of Office Literature, from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
Alexandra Irimia on Daniel Jenkin-Smith's The Rise of Office Literature, from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social: criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
ACLA Seminar on the Objectification of Office Workers, co-organized with Karolin Schäfer
Feb 26 - Mar 1, 2026, Montreal
Submissions (abstracts max. 1500 characters, bios max. 500) are open on the ACLA platform by Oct 2. Accepted seminars notified by Dec. 2.
www.acla.org/seminar/3ebf...
Feb 26 - Mar 1, 2026, Montreal
Submissions (abstracts max. 1500 characters, bios max. 500) are open on the ACLA platform by Oct 2. Accepted seminars notified by Dec. 2.
www.acla.org/seminar/3ebf...
View Seminar | American Comparative Literature Association
www.acla.org
September 4, 2025 at 10:44 AM
ACLA Seminar on the Objectification of Office Workers, co-organized with Karolin Schäfer
Feb 26 - Mar 1, 2026, Montreal
Submissions (abstracts max. 1500 characters, bios max. 500) are open on the ACLA platform by Oct 2. Accepted seminars notified by Dec. 2.
www.acla.org/seminar/3ebf...
Feb 26 - Mar 1, 2026, Montreal
Submissions (abstracts max. 1500 characters, bios max. 500) are open on the ACLA platform by Oct 2. Accepted seminars notified by Dec. 2.
www.acla.org/seminar/3ebf...
Just published in Critical Inquiry: my review of @dcjenkin-smith.bsky.social’s book "The Rise of Office Literature"—a most pleasant read that gave me a lot to think with.
Thanks for the review copy, @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social!
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
Thanks for the review copy, @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social!
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
Critical Inquiry
A journal of Art, Culture and Politics, Published by the University of Chicago
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu
August 30, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Just published in Critical Inquiry: my review of @dcjenkin-smith.bsky.social’s book "The Rise of Office Literature"—a most pleasant read that gave me a lot to think with.
Thanks for the review copy, @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social!
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
Thanks for the review copy, @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social!
criticalinquiry.uchicago.edu/alexandra_ir...
Bureaucratic Modernism is curious to hear your ideas!
DL: Nov 15📩
Full call here: call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/08/...
@moderniststudies.bsky.social @fimassociation.bsky.social @modernism-asia.bsky.social @modernistudies.bsky.social @mmodernity.bsky.social
DL: Nov 15📩
Full call here: call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/08/...
@moderniststudies.bsky.social @fimassociation.bsky.social @modernism-asia.bsky.social @modernistudies.bsky.social @mmodernity.bsky.social
cfp | call for papers
call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu
August 18, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Bureaucratic Modernism is curious to hear your ideas!
DL: Nov 15📩
Full call here: call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/08/...
@moderniststudies.bsky.social @fimassociation.bsky.social @modernism-asia.bsky.social @modernistudies.bsky.social @mmodernity.bsky.social
DL: Nov 15📩
Full call here: call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/08/...
@moderniststudies.bsky.social @fimassociation.bsky.social @modernism-asia.bsky.social @modernistudies.bsky.social @mmodernity.bsky.social
We've just hit "Publish" on Bureaucritics #4!📬
Check out our summer dispatch on the latest in bureaucracy studies, and don't forget to subscribe if you're so inclined.
Check out our summer dispatch on the latest in bureaucracy studies, and don't forget to subscribe if you're so inclined.
Out of Office
Summer may be the season of automated email replies and empty cubicles, but the machinery of bureaucracy never truly takes a holiday.
bureaucritics.substack.com
August 11, 2025 at 2:42 PM
We've just hit "Publish" on Bureaucritics #4!📬
Check out our summer dispatch on the latest in bureaucracy studies, and don't forget to subscribe if you're so inclined.
Check out our summer dispatch on the latest in bureaucracy studies, and don't forget to subscribe if you're so inclined.
Snippets of West German bureaucracy from the 1970s.
[gelatin silver prints from the exhibition Jupp Darchinger: The Eye of the Republic [Das Auge der Republik], LVR-Landesmuseum, open June 12 - September 14, 2025]
[gelatin silver prints from the exhibition Jupp Darchinger: The Eye of the Republic [Das Auge der Republik], LVR-Landesmuseum, open June 12 - September 14, 2025]
August 4, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Snippets of West German bureaucracy from the 1970s.
[gelatin silver prints from the exhibition Jupp Darchinger: The Eye of the Republic [Das Auge der Republik], LVR-Landesmuseum, open June 12 - September 14, 2025]
[gelatin silver prints from the exhibition Jupp Darchinger: The Eye of the Republic [Das Auge der Republik], LVR-Landesmuseum, open June 12 - September 14, 2025]
The French fascination for the curious life and paper forms of bureaucracy endures.
Here, screenshots from Messieurs les ronds-de-cuir (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1959), one of 4 film adaptations of Georges Courteline's 1893 eponymous novel.
#bureaucraticfiction #officenovel #bureaucratcomedy
Here, screenshots from Messieurs les ronds-de-cuir (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1959), one of 4 film adaptations of Georges Courteline's 1893 eponymous novel.
#bureaucraticfiction #officenovel #bureaucratcomedy
July 23, 2025 at 9:27 AM
The French fascination for the curious life and paper forms of bureaucracy endures.
Here, screenshots from Messieurs les ronds-de-cuir (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1959), one of 4 film adaptations of Georges Courteline's 1893 eponymous novel.
#bureaucraticfiction #officenovel #bureaucratcomedy
Here, screenshots from Messieurs les ronds-de-cuir (Henri Diamant-Berger, 1959), one of 4 film adaptations of Georges Courteline's 1893 eponymous novel.
#bureaucraticfiction #officenovel #bureaucratcomedy
It's only fitting that a special issue about administrative aesthetics comes out with some delay. Vol. 8 of Administory - co-edited with Jonathan Foster, Burkhardt Wolf, and Stefan Nellen is now published in Open Access! Find our intro and 17 fantastic contributions here: sciendo.com/issue/ADHI/8/1
Administory
Volume 8 (2023): Issue 1 (December 2023)
sciendo.com
July 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM
It's only fitting that a special issue about administrative aesthetics comes out with some delay. Vol. 8 of Administory - co-edited with Jonathan Foster, Burkhardt Wolf, and Stefan Nellen is now published in Open Access! Find our intro and 17 fantastic contributions here: sciendo.com/issue/ADHI/8/1